Thought Id take the camera along to water and weed

And took these shots to share

First stop was to check on my yellow squash and there it is

and another one growing right along near it.  They are doing very well.  Half of this row is yellow squash the other half is zucchini.  The zucchini are trying to catch up.  They lost all their blossoms with the last thunderstorms we had come through so even though the plants themselves look good, no zucchini yet.

Saw my red skin potatoes were starting to bloom.

WATERMELON BLOSSOMS!!!!  These little buggers appear and disappear so fast I have a hard time remembering which plant flowered.  I'm really excited about getting watermelons.  I don't care for the watermelons you buy in the store, I think they lack flavor and sweetness.  To me its like biting into a damp sponge.  No thank you.  Maybe I'm a watermelon snob I don't know but I do know what I don't like.  My wife and daughter eat the store bought melon without complaint and think they taste fine but I just don't care for them.  So I'm hoping to get a few this year and show them what a REAL watermelon tastes like.

Oh Pickles!  Well maybe I should be more specific...they are picking cucumbers that are going to be made into pickles.  If half of the blossoms I have produce cucumbers, then I'm going to be in a pickle with what to do with all them.  They are really doing well for me.

Giant pumpkin picture.    

Its got 2 blooms on it and hopefully producing pumpkins anytime now  The growth on this thing is amazing.  I swear I could check on it after breakfast and by dinner time its grown that much more.  Its really impressive.

Sweet pepper.  Bunch of these are coming in, and more to follow. 

I put this picture up of my Green Zebra tomato plant.  I thought it was wild that you can already see the "zebra" pattern.  I've never had one but when I saw the flavor description as "zippy" I figured why not.  Plus the price was right.

And one of my day lilies.  

I thought this would be a good note to end on.  

The Great Pumpkin Quest

So I figured since I've been nurturing this bad boy carefully, I thought I'd post some pictures of it.  The pictures I took of the blossoms on the Jack-O-Lanterns didn't come out well so I didn't post them as I mentioned earlier.  So when I went out to feed/water the giant one, I figured Id take the camera to post some pictures of its progress.

This is my lone Atlantic Dill Giant Pumpkin.  I was inspired to grow giant pumpkins for my daughter.  I know she'll get a kick out of  a huge pumpkin in the garden this fall.  Since I've only got one, its easy to keep up with.  I started 2 of them this year, but one just failed to thrive so I culled it, and replaced it with a Jack-O-Lantern type of pumpkin start that was an extra.  I started with a 10 carving pumpkins and planted the best ones, and held back the remaining few just in case.  I'm glad I did so I had something to replace the failed giant pumpkin.  I wasn't sure if I was going to cull it at first since the initial leaves didn't look right, but when it wasn't keeping pace with this one, I knew it was time replace it.  I couldn't dedicate the space to something that might not do well.

I've done a lot of reading on the tips and techniques to grow a really big pumpkin.  The best tip I got was to have a little bit of luck.  I was like "Really?!"  Its kind of funny to see that, but these are also by folks who are growing pumpkins that weigh in over 1,000lbs!!!!!  That's crazy!  If I can get it over 300lbs I'd consider it a major success but if I had a 1,000lbs pumpkin you could knock me over with a feather.

Anyway after reading what the "experts" suggest for tips on getting a big one, I felt I was doing most things right already.  I started them in peat pots early, feed them with a water soluble fertilizer 3x a week, and water them daily.  Now its just a matter of time.  Its loaded with blossoms, I'm just waiting till they open.

I'm planning keeping a journal (on here of course) of each pumpkin that sets on the vine so I can monitor their growth (which all the experts do apparently) for a week.  They chart the rate of growth and the pumpkin with the fastest rate of growth is the one they keep.  All the others are removed so the plant focuses all its energy into that one pumpkin.

A little size perspective.  I was so impressed with the size of the leaf I thought Id share it.  The vine that's coming out is already gained a few inches overnight.  It grows and grows and grows.  Its headed into the watermelons, which will make things interesting.  

These are my gardening shoes.  After getting grief over them I thought Id immortalize them here.  I hate to replace them because they still function even they need duct tape to function and besides I need a pair of shoes I can get dirty and work in.  When I replace them it will be with another pair of Walmart special seven dollar sneakers that Ill only wear outside to work in.  But right now they're doing just fine.

Alright off to go feed again!